Streaming Star Spends 37 Straight Trying to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> With Only a One Stick

You might assume that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom debuted, fans would have exhausted novel challenge runs that apply special rules on a gameplay session. Yet, although numerous gamers have attempted to finish the game with only a wooden stick, streamer PointCrow holds the record as the individual who aimed to beat the game with a one stick—meaning, the very same one throughout.

The streamer is famous for these kinds of challenge runs, such as the instance he went through the title using only bombs or the effort where he tried to defeat the story with zero energy. A one-branch playthrough, though, seems impossible at first glance. There's the game's introduction, which requires Link to wield the Master Sword. Additionally, there's the whole durability system, which is particularly relevant when working with the most fragile weapon in the whole game. But if the stick breaks, that's the end. It's over.

So, How?

How did he do it? The simple answer is glitches. The full answer, I kid you not, is alternate dimensions. It turns out, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have separate game sessions that impact one another. So the creator creates a “preparation” save where he advances standardly, and the actual save, where he's restricted. The setup save has him completing the prologue and first starting area, and this character acquires maximum stamina and health. From this point, he triggers a cutscene and halts midway through to instruct the game to open an automatic save from the stick file. The system gets mixed up and generates a third game file that combines the states of the original two.

That creates fresh problems, however. The fused file has a Link that did not obtain the capability to enter shrines. Luckily, this is something that the file exploit fixes easily, but pulling it off means relying on an buggy version of the game that refuses to load certain locations. Like everything else, he has a clever workaround for it: He starts Tears of the Kingdom on its pre-release version 1.0, and then updates the software partway through to ensure it starts functioning correctly.

Bypassing Weapon Wear and Additional Challenges

Curiously, the introductory version of the hero is coded so that he cannot break any weapons he uses, likely to prevent a situation where the user gets stuck at the start of the adventure. But that's additionally how PointCrow gets around the wear problem, as the Link he pulls between dimensions is the version from the beginning of the game. It's a smart trick, but not a method that eradicates all potential friction. The stick is still a ineffective weapon that makes battles tedious. But at that point, it's all a question of determination and perseverance. It also helps that there's a duplication glitch that grants him an abundant supply of consumables to boost his strength, or stock up on healing spirits. He also employs a glitch that enables Link to clip through the world. A few would consider these means grounds to discredit the validity of the run, but to my view, he's a resourceful player who is willing to do anything necessary to entertain his audience. He also implements a penalty of sorts stating that, for each spirit he uses, he'll ban a fan from his Twitch chat, creating an incentive to not depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

PointCrow succeeds to get through many of Tears of the Kingdom's bosses, but the fights look painful. The video version of his journey doesn't make the viewer endure the whole conflicts, which is a blessing when some of them take several hours. One boss fight, Queen Gibdo, requires an incredible 23 straight. The Ganondorf battle, which depletes the hero's hearts as it progresses, is a notable nail-biter. The unbreakable branch is after all just a stick. He is unable to necessarily clone objects midway the battle.

Did he succeed? In a matter of speaking, PointCrow does defeat the dragon version of Ganon. But the software compels the player to use the legendary weapon as the last strike, so technically, it's not quite completely a stick-only playthrough. But what fun is that?

When everything is said and done, the streamer removed over 1,000 people in his Twitch chat. Rest in peace.